From Real to Fictional: Assessing the Credibility of News Disseminated by Humans and Artificial Intelligence- Generated Avatars

The present experimental study addresses the impact of the type of information transmitter on the perceived credibility of technology news. Using a 3 x 1 between-subjects design, the research involved 150 university students who watched a video about an innovative medical invention. The primary variable was the news broadcaster: a human presenter, an avatar with a high degree of human realism, and an avatar with a purely fictional appearance. The evaluation focused on the credibility of the information. Through ANOVAs and post hoc tests, a clear hierarchy in perceived credibility was discovered. The data revealed statistically significant differences in credibility between the human and realistic avatar condition in favor of the human. However, no significant differences were found between the human and the fictional avatar. This suggests that the non-human appearance of an avatar does not necessarily diminish credibility vis-& agrave;-vis an actual person, although very realistic avatars may cause some rejection, translating into lower perceived credibility.